


A Test

by kiyala



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4868702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're not my captain any more," Kise says, as they walk side by side. </p>
            </blockquote>





	A Test

"You're not my captain any more," Kise says, as they walk side by side. 

Kasamatsu is taking a break from studying for his university entrance exams and—well, he'd texted Kise to ask if he was free without really thinking about it. He's used to spending time with him, that's all. He tries not to think harder about it, or about the way Kise's reply had been immediate. 

But Kise is faraway, lost in his thoughts. "It's so weird to think about it. I know it's only been a few months but… I don't know what I'm going to do without you as my captain, Kasamatsu-san."

"Stop being so dramatic," Kasamatsu scolds, hitting Kise on the back of his head. He grits his teeth together and ignores the bitter feeling of loss that he gets every time he thinks of leaving his team behind. "You're going to be fine. Hayakawa's a good guy. He'll make a good captain."

"I'm starting to understand him a bit better." Kise smiles, but he's looking at the ground as he walks, and he doesn't look happy at all. 

"Kise…"

"You're going to graduate, and you're going to leave," Kise says suddenly, like he's been holding it back for a while. "What's going to happen then? Are we going to stop spending time together like this?"

"What?" Kasamatsu frowns. "No, of course not. We're—"

He falters, not knowing what to say. He was about to say _friends_ , but he's only ever called Kise a teammate before, always kept a careful distance from him, more than anyone else on the team. Even though he knows that it's Kise, more than anyone else on the team, that he's spent most time with outside of school and basketball. 

Kise smiles, like Kasamatsu's just made his point for him. 

"We're still going to see each other," Kasamatsu insists. "Of course we are. We can see each other when we're both done with class for the day, and if that doesn't work, we can see each other on weekends, right? It's going to be fine. Maybe it's going to be a bit different to what we're used to, but that's unavoidable, right? This is still going to work."

"This?" Kise asks with a quiet laugh. "What's _this_? Why are we going out of our way to hold onto it?"

Kasamatsu presses his lips into a thin line, not sure how to respond. Kise huffs out a quiet laugh and Kasamatsu hates this, hates the fact that Kise is wearing a smile when it's clearly the last thing he feels like doing. 

"Well," Kise speaks up, while Kasamatsu is still floundering for something to say. He bumps their shoulders together casually. "If you find an answer to that, I'll be curious to hear it."

They part ways and Kasamatsu feels uneasy as he walks home. He's distracted as he gets back to his study notes and he's irritated with himself because he knows that it's his own fault. There are thoughts that he's too afraid to dwell on because of what they mean for him, things that make his mind shut down and go blank whenever he tries to figure them out. 

Most of these things, he realises, are about Kise. 

He lies awake in bed that night, trying to sort his thoughts out. It's easy to avoid and honestly, Kasamatsu would rather study than have to deal with this, but then all it takes is for him to remember how clearly unhappy Kise was earlier that afternoon and he finds his resolve again. 

The answer, when he finds it, is actually so glaringly obvious that he covers his face with his hands and groans in frustration. 

But he has his answer, at least. Now, it's just a matter of giving it to Kise. 

 

* * *

 

Kise doesn't respond to his messages the next day, asking to meet up. Kasamatsu is unsettled and restless the entire day, and he can't concentrate on his work at all. He keeps checking his phone, disappointed when there's nothing there. 

He cracks sometime in the afternoon, picking his phone up and calling Kise instead. He's relieved when Kise picks up. 

"Hey. I have my answer for you. From yesterday."

Kise is silent for a moment and then, he simply says, "Oh?"

"It's the kind of thing I need to tell you in person," Kasamatsu says and his voice might be even but he can feel his palms sweating. "It's not something I can say over the phone."

There's another silence and then he hears Kise sigh. "Meet me at my favourite café, in twenty minutes."

"Got it," Kasamatsu replies, grabbing his things when Kise hangs up. He puts his wallet and phone in his pockets and grabs his keys on the way out. His parents are out, busy with their usual weekend plans and he's glad that he doesn't have to explain where he's going when he should be studying. He doesn't know how to tell them that this is just as important to him. 

He's halfway to Kise's favourite café when it occurs to him that Kise never actually specified which one it was. It makes Kasamatsu stumble in his haste, because he realises that Kise never had to. Kasamatsu just knows, without even having to think about it, without Kise ever having to say that this particular one is his favourite. It only goes to confirm what he already knows and he bites the inside of his cheek, trying not to grin to himself because damn it, Kise was _testing_ him, and the moment he walks around the corner and sees Kise standing there just outside the entrance of the café, Kasamatsu knows he's passed. 

"That was twelve minutes," Kise remarks, as Kasamatsu walks towards him. "Did you run?"

"I guess I walked pretty fast," Kasamatsu admits. "There was somewhere important that I had to be. Because I have something important to say."

Kise smiles, and unlike yesterday, this one looks genuine. It makes Kasamatsu wonder if Kise has just been waiting for him to come to this realisation this whole time. 

"Say it, then."

Kasamatsu takes a deep breath and looks into Kise's eyes. "I'm not your captain any more. And even when I was, I don't know if I should have let it stop me the way I did. Maybe I fooled myself into thinking that the time we spent together was just time spent between a captain and an ace, but it's never just been that. You're a good ace, Kise, but you're so much more than that. To the team. To me."

Kise's smile grows and Kasamatsu is taken aback by just how much he wants to step forward and ask for a kiss. He doesn't, though. Not here. 

"We're friends, Kise, I don't want you to doubt that," he says. "But… I think I'd like to be more. If that's something you want to try."

With a soft, delighted laugh, Kise steps closer to Kasamatsu, brushing their hands against each other. "Well. Buy me my favourite drink, and I'll think about it."


End file.
